Typed by Kathy Sewell [email protected]
August 7, 1997
This book is
in the public domain
THE THIRD BOOK
OF
REGENERATION,
OR THE
NEW BIRTH
SHOWING
How he that earnestly seeketh Salvation, must suffer himself
to be brought out of the confused and contentious Babel, by the
Spirit of Christ, that he may be born anew in the Spirit of Christ, and
live to Him only.
Written in the German Language,
(Anno. 1622.)
By Jacob Boehem
Come out of Babylon, my People, that ye be not Partakers of her Sins, and that
ye receive not of her Plagues; for her Sins have reached unto Heaven, and God
hath remembered her Iniquity. - Rev. xviii. 4.
Though I have in my other Writings,
set down a clear description of Regeneration, or the New-Birth,
from the Ground thereof; yet because everyone hath them not, neither
hath everyone the Capacity to understand them; I have therefore, as a
Service to the simple Children of Christ, here set down a short Sum
concerning the New-Birth.
But if any desire to search the deep
Ground from whence all floweth, and have the Gift to understand it,
let them read these Books following.
1. The Three Principles of the Divine
Essence.
2. The three-fold Life of Man.
3. The forty Questions of the Original
Essence, Substance, Nature, and Property of the Soul.
4. The Incarnation and Birth of Jesus Christ
the Son of God; also of His Suffering, Death, and Resurrection.
5. The six Points treating of the
Three Worlds how they are in one another as one; and yet make
Three Principles, viz., Three Births or Centers.
6. The Mysterium Magnum, which is
an Interpretation upon Genesis.
And in them he shall find all that he can
ask, and that as deep as the Mind of Man is able to reach. I have
written this for the true Israelites, that is, for the Hungry
and Thirsty Hearts that long after the Fountain of Christ,
who are my Fellow-Members in the Spirit of Christ: But
not for the Ishmaelites and Scorners, for they have a Book
within them, wherewith they vex, persecute, and suppress the Children of
Christ that are under the Cross; and yet, though it be
unwillingly and unwittingly to themselves, they must be
Servants to such Children of Christ.
Showing how Man should consider himself
Christ said, `Except ye turn and become as
Children, ye shall not see the kingdom of God.' Again, he said to
Nicodemus; `Except a Man be born again, of Water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the Kingdom of God; for that which is born of the Flesh is
Flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.'
2. Also the Scripture positively
declareth, that `the Fleshly natural Man receiveth not the Things of the Spirit
of God, for they are Foolishness unto him, neither can he know or conceive
them.'
3. Now seeing that all of us have Flesh
and Blood and are mortal, as we find by Experience, and yet
the Scripture saith, that `We are the Temples of the Holy Ghost, who
dwelleth in us,' and that `the Kingdom of God is within us,' and that `Christ
must be formed in us;' also that `He will give us his Flesh for Food, and his
Blood for Drink:' And that, `Whosoever shall not eat of the Flesh of the Son
of Man, and drink his Blood hath no Life in him.' Therefore we should
seriously consider, what kind of Man in us it is, that is capable of
being thus like the Deity.
4. For it cannot be said of the mortal
Flesh that turneth to Earth again, and liveth in the Vanity of
this World, and continually lusteth against God, that it is the
Temple of the Holy Ghost; much less can it be said that the New
Birth cometh to pass in this earthly Flesh, which dieth and
putrifieth, and is a continual House of Sin.
5. Yet seeing that it remaineth certain, that a
True Christian is born of Christ, and that the New Birth is the
Temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us, and that the Net
Man only, that is born of Christ, partaketh of the Flesh and
Blood of Christ; it appeareth that is is not so easy a Matter to be a
Christian.
6. And that Christianity doth not consist
in the mere knowing of the History, and applying the Knowledge
thereof to ourselves, saying that `Christ died for us, and hath destroyed
Death and turned it into Life in us, and that He hath paid the Ransom for us,
so that we need do nothing but comfort ourselves therewith, and steadfastly
believe that it is so.'
7. For we find of ourselves that Sin is
living, lusting, strong, and powerfully working in the Flesh,
and therefore it must be somewhat else, which doth not co-operate with
Sin in the Flesh, nor Willeth it, that is the New-birth in
Christ.
8. For St Paul saith, `There is no
Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.' And further, `Should we that
are Christians be yet Sinners? God forbid, seeing we are dead to Sin in
Christ.'
9. Besides, the Man of Sin cannot be the
`Temple of the Holy Ghost;' and yet, there is no Man that sinneth not, for `God
hath shut up all under Sin.' As the Scripture saith, `No one living is
righteous in thy Sight, if thou imputest his Sins to him. The righteous Man
falleth seven Times a Day; and yet it cannot be meant that the righteous
falleth and sinneth, but his mortal and sinful Man. For the
righteousness of a Christian in Christ cannot Sin.
10. Moreover, St Paul saith, `Our Conversation
is in Heaven, from whence we expect our Saviour Jesus Christ.' Now, if our
Conversation be in Heaven, then Heaven must be in us;
Christ dwelleth in Heaven, and then if we are his Temple,
that Temple Heaven must be in us.
11. But for all this, seeing Sin tempteth
us within us, whereby the Devil hath within us an Access
to us, therefore Hell also must be in us too, for the Devil
dwelleth in Hell; wheresoever he is, he is in Hell. and cannot
come out of it. Yea, when he possesseth a Man, he swelleth in Hell, viz.,
in the Anger of God in that Man.
12. Therefore we ought to consider well what Man
is, and how he is a Man; and then we shall find that a true Christian is
not a mere Historical New Man, as if it were enough for us
outwardly to confess Christ, and believe that he is the Son of
God, and hath paid the Ransom for us. For Righteousness availeth
nothing, imputed. But it is an inherent Righteousness born in
us, by which we become the Children of God, that availeth.
13. And as the earthly Flesh must die, so
also the Life and Will must die from sin, and be as a Child that knoweth
nothing, but longeth only after the Mother which brought it forth. So likewise
must the Will of a Christian enter again into its Mother, viz., into
the Spirit of Christ, and become a Child in itself, in its own
Will and Power, having its Will and Desire inclined and directed only
towards its Mother. And a New Will and Obedience in
Righteousness, which Willeth Sin no more, must rise from Death out of
the Spirit of Christ in Him.
14. For that Will is not born anew,
which desireth and admitteth Vanity into itself; and yet there remaineth
a Will which longeth after Vanity, and sinneth, even in the
New-born or Regenerate Man. Therefore the Image or Nature
of Man should be well understood, and how the New-birth cometh to pass;
seeing it is not wrought in the mortal Flesh, and yet is wrought truly
and really in us, in Flesh and Blood, in Water and Spirit, as the
Scripture saith.
15. We should therefore rightly understand what
Kind of Man it is in us, that is the Member of Christ, and
Temple of God who dwelleth in Heaven. And then also what Kind of
Man it is, that the Devil ruleth and driveth; for he cannot
meddle with the Temple of Christ, nor doth he care much for the
mortal Flesh; and yet there are not three Men in one another, for all
make but one Man.
16. Now if we will understand this rightly, we
must consider Time and Eternity, and how they are in one another; also
Light and Darkness, Good and Evil; but especially the Original of
Man, which may be thus apprehended.
17. The outward World with the Stars and
four Elements, wherein Man and all Creatures live, neither is,
nor is called God. Indeed God dwelleth in it, but the
Substance of the outward World comprehendedeth him not.
18. We see also that the Light shineth in
Darkness, and the Darkness comprehendeth not the Light,
and yet they both dwell in one another. The four Elements are also an Example
of this; which in their Original are but one Element, which is neither hot nor
cold, nor dry, nor moist, and yet by its stirring separateth itself into four
Properties, viz., into Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.
19. Who would believe that Fire
produceth or generateth Water? And that the Original of Fire
could be in Water, if we did not see it with our Eyes in Tempests of
Thunder, Lightning, and Rain; and did not find also, that in living Creatures,
the essential Fire of the Body dwelleth in the Blood, and that
the Blood is the Mother of the Fire, and the Fire is
the Father of the Blood.
20. And as God dwelleth in the World, and
filleth all Things, and yet possesseth nothing; and as the Fire
dwelleth in Water, and yet possesseth it not; Also, as the Light
dwelleth in Darkness, and yet possesseth not the Darkness; as the Day is in the
Night, and the Night in the Day, Time in Eternity, and Eternity in Time; so is
Man created according to the outward Humanity, he is the
Time, and in the Time, and the Time is the outward World, and it
is also the outward Man.
21. The inward Man is Eternity and
the Spiritual Time and World, which also consisteth of Light
and Darkness, viz., of the Love of God, as to the eternal Light,
and of the Anger of God as to the eternal Darkness;
whichsoever of these is manifest in him, his Spirit dwelleth in that, be it
Darkness or Light.
22. For Light and Darkness are
both in him, but each of them dwelleth in itself, and neither of them
possesseth the other; but if one of them entereth into the other, and will
possess it, then that other loseth its Right and Power.
23. The passive loseth its Power; for if
the Light is made manifest in the Darkness, then the
Darkness loseth its Darkness, and is not known or discerned.
Also on the contrary, if the Darkness arise in the Light and get
the Upper hand, then the Light and the Power thereof are extinguished.
This is to be observed also in Man.
24. The eternal Darkness of the Soul is
Hell, viz., an aching Source of Anguish, which is called the Anger of
God; but the eternal Light in the Soul is the Kingdom of
Heaven, where the fiery Anguish of Darkness is changed into
joy.
25. For the same Nature of Anguish, which
in the Darkness is a Cause of Sadness, is in the Light a
Cause of the outward and stirring Joy. For the Source or
Original in Light, and the Source in Darkness are but one
eternal Source, and one Nature, and yet they, viz., the Light and
Darkness, have a mighty Difference in the Source; the one dwelleth
in the other and begetteth the other, and yet is not the other. The
Fire is painful and consuming, but the Light is
yielding, friendly, powerful, and delightful, a sweet and amiable Joy.
26. This may be found also in Man; is is
and liveth in three Worlds; the First is the eternal dark World,
viz., the Center of the eternal Nature which produceth or generateth
the Fire, viz., the Source or Property of Anguish.
27. The second is the eternal
light World, which begetteth the eternal Joy, which is the Divine
Habitation wherein the Spirit of God dwelleth, and wherein the
Spirit of Christ receiveth the human Substance, and subdueth the
Darkness, so that it must be a Cause of Joy in the Spirit of
Christ in the Light.
28. The Third is the outward
visible World in the four Elements and the visible Stars; though indeed
every Element hath its peculiar Constellation in itself, whence the
Desire and Property arise, and is like a Mind.
29. Thus you may understand, that the Fire in
the Light is a Fire of Love, a Desire of Meekness and
Delightfulness; but the Fire in the Darkness is a Fire of Anguish,
and is painful, irksome, inimical and full of Contrariety in its
Essence. The Fire of the Light hath a good Relish or Taste, but the
Taste in the Essence of Darkness is unpleasant, loathsome and irksome.
For all the Forms or Properties in the eternal Nature, till they
reach to Fire, are in great Anguish.
Here we are to consider the Creation
of Man. Moses saith, `God created Man in His Image, in the Image of
God created He him.' This we understand to be both out of the eternal and
temporal Birth; out of the inward and spiritual World which he
breathed into him, into the created Image; and then out of the
Substance of the inward spiritual World, which is Holy.
31. For as there is a Nature and
Substance in the outward World; so also in the inward spiritual
World there is a Nature and Substance which is Spiritual;
from which the outward World is breathed forth, and produced out
of Light and Darkness, and created to have a Beginning and
Time.
32. And out of the Substance of
the inward and outward World Man was created; out of and
in the Likeness of the Birth of all Substances. The body is a
Limbus (as Extract or a kind of Seed, which containeth all that which
the Thing from whence it is taken hath) of the earth, and also a
Limbus of the Heavenly Substance; for the Earth is breathed
forth outspoken, or created out of the dark and light World. In the
Fiat (or creating word) viz., in the eternal Desire Man
was taken out of the Earth, and so created an Image out of
Time and Eternity.
33. This Image was in the inward and
spiritual Element, from whence the four Elements proceed and are
produced. In that one element was Paradise; for the
Properties of Nature from the Fire-dark-and-light-World were all
in Harmony and Agreement in Number, Weight, and Measure. One of them was not
manifested more eminently than another, therefore was there no Frailty
therein. For no one Property was predominant over another, neither was
there any Strife or Contrariety among the Powers and
Properties.
34. Into this created Image God
breathed the Spirit and Breath of Understanding out of the
three Worlds, as one only Soul which, as to its Original
Principle or Essence, is, or consisteth in, the inward dark
Fire-World of the eternal spiritual Nature; according to which God
calleth himself a strong jealous God, and a Consuming Fire.
35. And this now is the eternal Creaturely
great Soul, a Magical Breath of Fire, in which Fire
consisteth the Original of Life, from the great Power of
variation. God's Anger, or the eternal Darkness, is in this
Property, so far as Fire reacheth without giving Light.
36. The second Property of the Breath
of God is the Spirit of the Source of Light, proceeding from the
great fiery Desire of Love, from the great Meekness; according to
which God calleth himself a loving, merciful God; in which consisteth
the true Spirit of Understanding, and of Life in Power.
37. For as Light shineth from
Power, and as the Power of Understanding is discerned in
the Light, so the Breath of the Light was joined to the Breath of the
Fire of God, and breathed into the Image of Man.
38. The third Property of the Breath of
God was the outward Air with its Constellation or Astrum, wherein the
Life and Constellation of the outward Substance and Body did
consist. This he breathed into his Nostrils; and as Time and Eternity hang
together, and as Time is produced out of Eternity, so the inward Breath
of God hung to the outward.
39. This three-fold Soul was at
once breathed into Man; and each Substance of the Body received the
Spirit according to its Property. The outward flesh
received the outward Air and its Constellations, for a rational and
vegetative Life, to the Manifestation of the Wonders of God; and the
Light Body or Heavenly Substance received the Breath of the Light of the
great Divine Powers and Virtues; which Breath is called the Holy
Ghost.
40. Thus the Light pierced through
the Darkness, viz., through the dark Breath of Fire, and also
through the Breath of the outward Air and its Constellation or Astrum,
and so deprived all the Properties of their Power, that neither the
Anguish of the Breath of Fire in the inward Property of
the Soul, nor Heat nor Cold, nor any of all the Properties of the
outward Constellation, might or could be manifested.
41. The Properties of all the three
Worlds in Soul and Body were in equal Agreement, Temperature, and Weight.
That which was inward and Holy ruled through and over the
outward, that is, the outward Parts of the outward Life, of the outward
Stars and Constellations and the Four Elements; and that original and universal
Power of the inward over the outward constituted the
Holy Paradise.
42. And thus Man was both in Heaven and
also in the outward World, and was Lord over all the Creatures of
this world. Nothing could destroy him.
43. For such was the Earth also, until
the Curse of God broke forth. The Holy Property of the
Spiritual World sprung up through the Earth, and brought forth
Holy Paradisaical Fruits, which Man could then eat in a Magical
Paradisaical Manner.
44. And had neither need of Teeth, nor
Entrails in his Body. For as the Light swalloweth up Darkness, and as
the Fire devoureth Water, and yet is not filled therewith, just such a
Centre Man also had for his Mouth to eat withal, according to the
Manner of Eternity.
45. And he could also generate his
like out of himself, without any dividing or opening of his Body
and Spirit, in such a Manner as God generated the outward World; Who did
not divide himself; but did in his Desire, viz., in the Word
Fiat, manifest himself, and brought that same Desire into a
Figure according to the eternal Spiritual Birth. So also Man was
created an Image and Likeness of God in that respect, according to
Time and Eternity, out of both Time and Eternity, yet in
and for an immortal Life which was without Enmity or Contrariety.
46. But the Devil having himself been a
Prince and Hierarch in the Place of this World, and cast out for
his Pride into the dark, anguishing, painful and hostile Property and
Source, into the Warth of God, envied Man the Glory of being created
in and for the Spiritual World, the Place which he himself once
possessed; and therefore brought his Imagination or Desire into the Image of
Man, and made it so lusting, that the dark World, and also
the outward World arose in Man, and departed from the equal Agreement
and Temperature wherein they stood, and so one predominated over the other.
47. And then the Properties were each of
them separately made manifest in itself, and each of them lusted
after that which was like itself. That which was out of the Birth of the
dark World, and also that which was out of the Birth of the light
World, would each of them eat of the Limbus of the Earth,
according to its Hunger; and so Evil and Good became manifest in
Adam.
48. And when the Hunger of the
Properties went into the Earth, from whence the Properties of the
Body were extracted, then the Fiat drew such a Branch out of the
Earth, as the Properties could eat of in their awakened
Vanity; for this was possible.
49. For the Spirit of the strong and
great Magical Power of Time and Eternity was in Adam, from
which the Earth with its Properties was breathed forth; and so
the Fiat, viz., was strong Desire of the eternal Nature,
attracted the Essence of the Earth. And thus God let the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil grow for Adam, according to his awakened
Properties; for the great Power of the Soul and of the Body caused it.
50. And then Man must be tried, whether he would
stand and subsist in his own Powers, before the Tempter the
Devil, and before the Wrath of the eternal Nature; and
whether the Soul would continue in the equal Agreement of the Properties
in true Resignation under God's Spirit, as an Instrument
of God's Harmony, a tuned Instrument of Divine Joyfulness for
the Spirit of God to strike upon. This was tried by that Tree,
and this severe Commandment was added, `Thou shalt not eat thereof, for on that
Day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.'
51. But it being known to God that
Man would not stand, and that he had already imagined and lusted after
Good and Evil, God said, `It is not good for Man to be alone, we
will make him an Help-meet for him.'
52. For God saw that Adam could not then
generate Magically, having entered with his Lust into Vanity.
Now therefore Moses saith, `God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him,
and he slept;' that is, seeing Man would not continue in the Obedience of the
Divine Harmony in the Properties, submitting himself to stand still as
an Instrument of the Spirit of God; therefore God suffered him to
fall from the Divine Harmony into an Harmony of his own, viz.,
into the awakened Properties of Evil and Good; the Spirit of his
Soul went into these.
53. And there in this Sleep he died from
the Angelical World, and fell under the Power of the outward
Fiat, and thus bade farewell to the eternal Image which was of God's
begetting. Here his Angelical Form and Power fell into a
Swoon and lay on the Ground.
54. And then by the Fiat God made the
Woman out of him, out of the Matrix of Venus, viz., out of that
Property wherein Adam had the Begettress in himself; and so out
of one Body he made two, and divided the Properties of the Tinctures,
viz., the watery and fiery Constellations in the Element; yet not
wholly in Substance but in the Spirit, viz., the Properties of the
Watery and Fiery Soul.
55. And yet it is but one Thing still, only
the Property of the Tincture was divided; the Desire of
Self-Love was taken out of Adam, and formed into a Woman according
to his Likeness. And thence it is that Man now so eagerly desireth the
Matrix of the Woman, and the Woman desireth the Limus of
the Man, viz., the Fire-Element, the Original of the true Soul,
by which is meant the Tincture of Fire; for these two were one in Adam,
and therein consisted the Magical Begetting.
56. And as soon as Eve was made
out of Adam in his Sleep, both Adam and Eve were at that Instant
set and constituted in the outward natural Life, having the Members
given them for Propagation, after the manner of the Brute Animals, and also the
Fleshly Carcase, into which they might put their gross Earthliness, and live
like Beasts.
57. Of which the poor Soul that is captivated in
Vanity is at this Day ashamed; and sorry that its Body hath
gotten such a Beastial monstrous Shape. Nothing can be clearer than this. For
it is because Mankind are ashamed of their Members and Nakedness, that
they borrow their Clothing from the earthly Creatures. For this they would not
have done, had they not lost the Angelical Form, and assumed that of a
Beast.
58. This borrowed Clothing,
together with the awakened Earthliness, and Subjection to the Powers of
Heat and Cold, is a plain and full Proof to Man, that he is not truly at
Home in this World. For all Earthly Appetites, Cares, and Fears,
together with this false Clothing, must perish and be severed from the
Soul again.
59. Now when Adam awoke from Sleep, he
beheld his Wife, and knew that she came out of him; for he had not yet eaten of
Vanity with his outward Mouth, but with the Imagination,
Desire, and Lust only.
60. And it was the first Desire of Eve,
that she might eat of the Tree of Vanity, of Evil and Good, to which the
Devil in the Form of a Serpent persuaded her, saying, `That her Eyes
should be opened, and she should be as God himself;' which was both a Lie
and a Truth.
61. But He told her not, that she should
lose the Divine Light and Power thereby; He only said, `her Eyes should
be opened, that she might taste, prove, and know Evil and Good, as He had
done.' Neither did He tell her that the Property of the outward
Constellations would have great Power over the Flesh and over the
Mind.
62. His only Aim was that the Angelical
Image, viz., the Substance which came from the inward Spiritual
World, might disappear in them. For then they would be constrained
to live in Subjection to the gross Earthliness, and the
Constellations or Stars; and then he knew well enough that when the
outward World perished, the Soul would be with him in Darkness.
For he saw that the Body must die, when he perceived by that which God had
intimated; and so he expected still to be Lord to all Eternity in the Place of
this World, in his false Shape which he had gotten; and therefore he
seduced Man.
63. For when Adam and Eve were
eating the Fruit, Evil, and Good, into the Body, then the
Imagination of the Body received Vanity in the
Fruit, and then Vanity awaked in the Flesh, and the
dark World got the Upper hand and Domination in the Vanity of the
Earthliness; upon which the fair Image of Heaven, that proceeded
out of the Heavenly Divine World, instantly disappeared.
64. Here Adam and Eve died to the
Kingdom of Heaven, and awaked to the outward World, and then the
fair Soul as it stood in the Love of God, disappeared as to the
holy Power, Virtue, and Property; and instead thereof, the wrathful
Anger, viz., the dark Fire World, awoke in it, and so the Soul
became in one Park, viz., in the inward Nature, a half Devil, and in the
outward Part as related to the outward World, a Beast.
65. Here are the Bounds of Death and the
Gates of Hell, for which Cause God became Man, that he might
destroy Death, defeat the Devil's Purpose, and change Hell
into great Love again.
66. Let this be told you, Ye Children of Men; it
is told you in the Sound of a Trumpet, that you should instantly go
forth from the abominable Vanity, for the Fire thereof burneth.
Now when Adam and Eve fell
into this Vanity, then the Wrath of Nature awoke in each
Property, and in or through the Desire impressed the
Vanity of the Earthliness and Wrath of God into itself.
68. And then the Flesh became
gross and rough, as the Flesh of a Beast, and the Soul was
captivated in that Essence therewith, and saw that its Body was
become a Beast, and had gotten the Bestial Members for
Multiplication, and the filthy Carcase into which the Desire would stuff
the Loathsomeness which it was ashamed of in the Presence of God; and therefore
Adam and Eve hid themselves under the Trees of the Garden of Eden.
Heat and Cold also seized on them.
69. And here the Heaven in Man
trembled for Horror; as the Earth quaked in Wrath, when this
Anger was destroyed on the Cross by the sweet Love of
God; there the Anger trembled before the sweet Love of God.
70. And for this Vanity's Sake which was
thus awakened in Man, God cursed the Earth; lest the holy Element
should spring or shine forth any more through the outward Fruit, and bring
forth Paradisaical Fruit. For there was then no Creature that could
have enjoyed it; neither was the earthly Man worthy of it any more.
71. God would not cast the precious
Pearls before Beasts; an ungodly Man in his Body being but a mere
gross Beastial Creature; and though it be of a noble Essence, yet
it is wholly poisoned and loathsome in the Sight of God.
72. Now when God saw that his fair Image
was spoiled, he manifested himself to fallen Adam and Eve and had Pity on them,
and promised himself to them for an everlasting Possession, and that
with his great Love in the received Humanity he would
destroy the Power of the Serpentine Property, viz., of the
Vanity in the Wrath of God awakened in them. And this was the
Breaking of the Head of the Serpent which he would perform, viz., he
would destroy the dark Death, and subdue the Anger with his great
Love.
73. And this Covenant of his
Incarnation which was to come, he put into the Light of Life; to
which Covenant the Jewish Sacrifices pointed as to a Mark
or Limit, to which God had promised himself with his Love; for
the Faith of the Jews entered into the Sacrifices and
Offerings, and God's Imagination entered into the
Covenant.
74. And the Offering was a Figure
of the Restitution of that which Adam hath lost, and so God
did expiate his Anger in the human Property, through
the offering in the Limit of the Covenant.
75. In which Covenant the most holy sweet
Name Jesus, proceeding out of the holy Name and great Power
Jehovah, had incorporated itself; so that he would again move and
manifest himself in the Substance of the Heavenly World which
disappeared in Adam, and kindle the holy Divine Life therein
again.
76. This Mark or Limit of the
Covenant at the End, in the Root of David in the Virgin Mary, who
was, in the inward Kingdom of the hidden Humanity, (viz., of the
Essentiality that disappeared as to the Kingdom of God) the Daughter of God's
Covenant, but in the outward according to the natural Humanity,
she was begotten by her true bodily Father Joachim and her true Mother Anna,
out of the Essence and Substance of their Souls and Bodies, like all other
Children of Adam; a true Daughter of Eve.
78. In this Mary from the Virgin (viz., the
Wisdom of God) in the promised Limit of the Covenant, of
which all the Prophets have prophesied. - The Eternal Speaking Word,
which created all Things, did in the Fullness of Time move itself in the Name
Jesus, according to its highest and deepest Love and Humility,
and bring again living, Divine, and Heavenly Substantiality into the
Humanity of the heavenly Part, which disappeared in
Adam, and from which he died in Paradise, into the Seed of Mary,
into the Tincture of Love, into that Property wherein Adam should
have propagated himself in a Magical and Heavenly Manner, into
the true Seed of the Woman, of Heavenly Substantiality, which
disappeared in paradise.
79. And when the Divine Light in the
Heavenly Essence was extinguished, the Word of God, viz.,
the Divine Power of the Understanding, did bring in Heavenly
and living Substantiality, and awakened the disappeared Substantiality
in the Seed of Mary, and brought it to Life.
80. And so now God's Substance, wherein
He dwelleth and worketh, and the disappeared Substance of Man, are
become one Person; for the Holy Divine Substantiality did
anoint the disappeared; therefore that Person is called Christus,
the Anointed of God.
81. And this is the dry Rod of Aaron, which
blossomed and bare Almonds, and the true High Priest; and it is that
Humanity of which Christ spake, saying that, `He was come from
Heaven and was in Heaven,' and that no man could ascend into Heaven but the Son
of Man which is come from Heaven, and is in Heaven.'
82. Now when he saith, `He is come from Heaven,'
it is meant of the Heavenly Substance, the Heavenly Corporeality; for
the Power and Virtue of God needeth no coming any whither, for it is
everywhere altogether immeasurable and undivided. But Substance needeth
coming; the Power or Virtue needeth to move itself, and manifest
itself in Substance.
83. And that Substance entered into
the human Substance, and received it; not that Part only of
Heavenly Substantiality, which disappeared in Adam, but the whole human
Essence in Soul and Flesh, according to all the three Worlds.
84. But He hath not received, or taken upon
Himself, the awakened or impressed Vanity, which the Devil, by
his Imagination, brought into the Flesh, by which the
Flesh did commit Sin. Though He hath indeed taken upon Him the
awakened Forms of Life, as they were gone forth from their equal
Agreement, each of them into its own Desire.
85. For therein lay our Infirmity, and
the Death, which He was to drown with his Heavenly holy Blood.
Herein He took upon himself all our sins and Infirmities, also Death
and Hell in the Wrath of God, and destroyed their Power in the
human Properties.
86. The Wrath of God was the Hell
into which the Spirit of Christ went, when He had shed that heavenly
Blood into our outward human Blood, and tinctured it with the
Love; thereby changing that Hell of the human Property into
Heaven, and reducing the human Properties into equal Agreement, into
the Heavenly Harmony.
Now here we may rightly understand what our
New Birth, or Regeneration, is; and how we may become, and continue to
be, the Temple of God; though in this lifetime, according to the
outward Humanity, we are sinful mortal Men.
88. Christ in the human Essence
hath broken up and opened the Gates of our inward Heavenly
Humanity, which was shut up in Adam. So that nothing is now wanting, but
that the Soul draw its Will out from the Vanity of the corrupted
Flesh, and bring it into this open Gate in the Spirit of
Christ.
89. Great and strong Earnestness
is required here; and not only a learning and knowing, but a real
Hunger and Thirst after the Spirit of Christ. For to know only,
is not Faith; but an Hunger and Thirst after that which I want,
so that I draw it in thereby to myself, and lay hold on it with the Desire
and Imagination, and, make it my own; this is the Truth and Essence of a
Christian's Faith.
90. The Will must go forth from the
Vanity of the Flesh, and willingly yield itself up to the
Suffering and Death of Christ, and to all the Reproach of
Vanity, which derideth it because it goeth forth from its own House
wherein it was born, and regardeth Vanity no more, but merely desireth
the Love of God in Christ Jesus.
91. In such a Hunger and Desire the Will
receiveth and impresseth into itself the Spirit of Christ with his
Heavenly Corporeality; that is, the Soul in its great Hunger and
Desireth taketh hold of, and draweth the Body of Christ, viz.,
the Heavenly Substantiality, into its disappeared Image,
within which the Word of the Power of God is the Working.
92. The Hunger of the Soul bringeth
its Desire quite through the bruised Property of its Humanity in
the Heavenly Part, which disappeared in Adam; which Humanity, the
sweet Fire of Love in the Death of Christ did bruise, when the
Death of that Heavenly Humanity was destroyed.
93. And so the Hunger of the Soul
received into it, into its disappeared Corporeality, through the
Desire, the holy Heavenly Substance, viz., Christ's Heavenly
Corporeality, which fileth the Father all over, and is nigh unto all, and
through all Things; and through that the disappeared Heavenly Body
riseth in the Power of God, in the sweet Name Jesus.
94. And this raised Heavenly Spiritual
Body is the Member of Christ, and the Temple of the Holy
Ghost, a true Mansion of the Holy Trinity according to Christ's
Promise, saying, `We will come to you, and make our Abode in you.'
95. The Essence of that Life eateth
the Flesh of Christ, and drinketh his Blood. For the Spirit of Christ,
viz., the Word, which made itself visible with the Humanity of
Christ out of and in our disappeared Humanity, through the outward
Man of the Substance of this World, swalloweth its holy Substance
into its fiery; for every Spirit eateth of its own
Body.
96. Now if the Soul eat of this sweet, holy, and
Heavenly Food, then it kindleth itself with the great Love in the Name
and Power of Jesus; whence its Fire of Anguish becometh a great
Triumph of Joy and Glory, and the true Sun ariseth to it, wherein
it is born to another Will.
97. And here cometh to pass the Wedding of
the Lamb, which we heartily wish that the Titular and
Lip-Christians might once find by Experience in themselves, and so pass
from the History into the Substance.
98. But the Soul obtaineth not this Pearl
of the Divine Wisdom and Virtue for its own Property during the
Time of this Life; because it hath the outward Bestial Flesh sticking to
its outward Man.
99. The Power of which Pearl of
Divine Wisdom espouseth itself in this Wedding of the Lamb, and
sinketh itself down into the Heavenly Image, viz., into the Substance
of the Heavenly Man, who is the Temple of Christ; and not
into the Fire-breath of the Soul, which is yet, during this whole
lifetime, fast bound to the outward Kingdom, to the Bond of
Vanity, with the Breath of the Air, and is in great Danger.
100. It darteth its Beams of Love indeed
very often into the Soul, whereby the Soul receiveth Light; but the
Spirit of Christ yieldeth not itself up to the Fire-breath in this
Life's Time, but to the Breath of Light only which was extinguished in
Adam, in which the temple of Christ is, for that is the True and holy
Heaven.
101. Understand aright now, what the New
Birth or Regeneration is, and how it cometh to pass, as followeth.
The outward earthly mortal Man is not born anew in this Life's Time,
that is, neither the outward Flesh, nor the outward Part of the
Soul. They continue both of them in the Vanity of their Wills which
awoke in Adam. They love their Mother, in whose Body they live, viz., the
Dominion of this outward World; and therein the Birth of Sin is
manifest.
102. The outward Man is Soul and Flesh,
(we mean the outward part of the Soul) hath no Divine Will, neither doth
he understand any Thing of God, as the Scripture saith, `The natural Man
perceiveth not the Things of the Spirit of God.' etc.
103. But the Fire Breath of the inward
World, if it be once enlightened, understandeth it; it hath a great
Longing, Sighing, Hunger, and Thirst after the sweet Fountain of
Christ; it refresheth itself by Hungering and Desiring, which is the
true Faith in) the sweet Fountain of Christ from his New Body,
from the Heavenly Substantiality, as a hungry Branch in the
Vine Christ.
104. And the Reason why the fiery Soul cannot
attain to Perfection during this Lifetime, is because it is fast bound with the
outward Bond of Vanity, through which the Devil continually
casteth his venomous Rays of Influence upon it, and so sifteth it, that
it often biteth at his Bait, and poisoneth itself. From whence
Misery and Anguish arise, so that the Noble Sophia hideth
herself in the Fountain of Christ, in the Heavenly Humanity; for
she cannot draw near to Vanity.
105. For she knew how it went with her in Adam,
when she lost her Pearl, which is the Grace freely bestowed again upon
the inward Humanity; therefore she is called Sophia, viz., the Bride
of Christ.
106. Here she faithfully calleth to her
bridegroom the fiery Soul, and exhorteth him to Repentance, and to
the unburdening of himself, or going forth from the Abomination
of Vanity.
107. And now War assaulteth the whole Man.
The outward Fleshly Man fighteth against the inward Spiritual
Man, and the Spiritual against the Fleshly; and so Man is in
continual Warfare and Strife, full of Trouble, Misery, Anguish, and care.
108. The inward Spirit saith to the
fiery Soul: O my Soul! O my love! Turn I beseech thee and go forth from
Vanity, or else thou loseth my Love and the noble Pearl.
109. Then saith the outward Reason, viz.,
the Beastial Soul; `Thou art foolish; wilt thou be a Laughing-Stock, and
the Scorn of the World? ?Thou needest the outward World to maintain this Life.
Beauty, Power, and Glory are thy proper Happiness; wherein only thou canst
rejoice and take Delight. Why wilt thou cast thyself into Anguish, Misery, and
Reproach? Take thy Pleasure, which will do both thy Flesh and thy Mind
good.'
110. With such Filth the true Man is
often defiled; that is, the outward Man defileth himself, as a
Sow in the Mire, and obscureth his noble Pearl. For the more vain
the outward Man groweth, the more dark the inward Man cometh to
be, until at length it disappeareth altogether.
111. And then the fair Paradisaical Tree
is gone, and it will be very hard to recover it again. For when the outward
Light, viz., the outward Soul is once enlightened, so that the
outward Light of Reason is kindled by the inward Light; then the
outward Soul commonly used to turn Hypocrite, and esteem itself Divine,
even though the Pearl be gone; which lamentable Error sticketh hard to
many a Man.
112. And thus it comes to pass that the Tree
of Pearl in the Garden of Christ is often spoiled; concerning which
the Scripture maketh a hard Knot or Conclusion, viz., That those who
have once tasted the Sweetness of the World to come, and fall away from it
again, shall hardly see the Kingdom of God.
113. And though it cannot be denied, but that
the Gates of Grace still stand open, yet the false and dazzling Light of
the outward Reason of the Soul so deceiveth and hindereth such Men, that
they suppose they have the Pearl, while they yet live to the Vanity
of this World, and dance with the Devil after his Pipe.
Here therefore a Christian should consider
why he calleth himself a Christian, and examine truly whether he
be one or not. For surely my learning to know and confess that I am a
Sinner, and that Christ hath destroyed my Sins on the
Cross, and shed His Blood for me, doth not make me a Christian.
115. The Inheritance belongeth only to the
Children. A Maid Servant in a House knoweth well enough what the Mistress would
have to be done, and yet that maketh her not the Heiress of her
Mistress' Goods. The very Devils know that there is a God, yet that
doth not change them into Angels again. But if the Maid Servant in the
House shall be married to the Son of her Mistress, then she may come to inherit
her Mistress' Goods. And so it is to be understood also in the Matter of being
a Christian.
116. The Children of the History
are not the Heirs of the Goods of Christ, but the legitimate
Children regenerated by the Spirit of Christ are the only true
Heirs. For God said to Abraham, Cast out the Son of the Bondwoman, he shall
not inherit with the Son of the Free. For he was a Scorner, and but
an Historical Son of the Faith and Spirit of Abraham; and so long as he
continued such a one, he was not a true Inheritor of the Faith of
Abraham, and therefore God commanded he should be cast out from
inheriting his Goods; which was a Type of the Christiandom which was
to come.
117. For the Promise of Christendom was
made to Abraham; therefore the Type was then also set forth by two
Brethren, Isaac and Ishmael, in order to show how Christiandom
would behave itself, and that two Sorts of Men would be in it, viz., true
Christianity would be but mockers, as Ishmael was and Esau,
who also was a Type of the outward Adam, as Jacob was a Type of
Christ, and His true Christendom.
118. Thus every one who will call himself a
Christian, must cast out from himself the Son of the
Bond-woman, that is, the earthly Will, and be evermore killing and
destroying it, and not settle it in the Inheritance.
119. Nor give the Pearl to the
Beastial Man, for him to sport himself with in the outward Light, in
the Lust of the Flesh; but we must with our Father Abraham being the Son
of the right Will to Mount Moriah and be ready in Obedience to God to
offer it up, ever in Will dying from Sin in the Death of Christ, giving
no place to the Beast of Vanity in the Kingdom of Christ, nor
suffering it to grow wanton, proud, covetous, envious, and malicious.
For all these are the Properties of Ishmael the Son of the Bond
Woman whom Adam begat in his Vanity on the wanton Whore the
false Bond Woman, by the Devil's Imagination, out of the earthly
Property in Flesh and Blood.
120. This Mocker and Titular Christian is
the son of the false Bond Woman, and must be cast out; for he shall not
possess the Inheritance of Christ in the Kingdom of God. He is not fit,
he is but Babel, a Confusion of that one Language into many Languages. He is
but a Talker and a Wrangler about the Inheritance; he means to get it to
himself by Talking and Wrangling, by the Hypocrisy of his Lips and seeming
Holiness, although he is no better than a blood-thirsty Murderer of his
brother Abel, who is the right Heir.
121. Therefore we say what we know, that he that
will call himself a true Christian must try himself, and find what Kind
of Properties drive and rule him, whether the Spirit of Christ
moveth him to Truth and Righteousness, and to the Love of his
Neighbor, so that he would willingly do what is right if he knew but
how.
122. Now if he find that he hath a real
Hunger after such Virtue, then he may justly think that is is drawn.
And then he must begin to practice accordingly, and not be content with a
Will only, without Doing. The drawing of the Father to
Christ consisteth in the Will, but the true Life consisteth in
the Doing; for the right Spirit doeth that which is right.
123. But if there be the Will to do, and
yet the Doing followeth not, then the true Man is still shut up in vain Lust,
which suppresseth the Doing. And therefore such a one is but an
Hypocrite and an Ishmaelite; he speaketh one Thing and doth another,
and witnesseth thereby that his Mouth is a Liar; for he himself doth not
that which he teacheth, and consequently only serveth the Beastial
Man in Vanity.
124. For he that will say, I have a Will, and
would willingly do good, but the earthly Flesh which I carry about me, keepeth
me back, so that I cannot; yet I shall be saved by Grace, for the Merits of
Christ. I comfort myself with His Merit and Sufferings; who will receive me of
mere Grace, without any Merit of my own, and forgive me my Sins. Such a one
I say, is like a Man that knoweth what Food is good for his health, yet will
not eat of it, but eateth Poison instead thereof, from whence Sickness and
Death, will certainly follow.
125. For what good doth it to the Soul to know
the Way to God, if it will not walk therein, but go on in a
contrary Path? What good will it do the Soul to comfort itself with
the Filiation of Christ, with His Passion and Death, and so
flatter itself with the Hopes of getting the Patrimony thereby, if it
will not enter into the Filial Birth, that it may be a true
Child, born out of the Spirit of Christ, out of His Suffering,
Death and Resurrection? Surely, the Tickling and Flattering itself
with Christ's Merits, without the true innate Childship, is
Falsehood and a Lie, whosoever he be that teacheth it.
126. This Comfort belongeth only to
the penitent Sinner, who striveth against Sin and the Anger of God.
When Temptations come, and the Devil assaulteth such a poor
repentant Soul, then it must wholly wrap itself up in the Merits and
Death of Christ, as its sole Armour of Defence.
127. Christ alone indeed hath
merited Redemption for us; but not in such a Way as that for His own
proper Merit's Sake, He will freely grant us His Childship by
an outward Adoption only, and so receive us for his Children,
when we are none. No. He Himself is the Merit. He is the open Gate
that leadeth through Death; and through that Gate we must enter. He
receiveth no Beast into his Merit, but those only that turn,
and become as Children. Those Children that thus come to Him are His
Reward, which he hath merited.
128. For thus he said, `Father, the Men were
thine and thou hast given them to me (as my Reward)' and I will give them
eternal Life.' But the life of Christ will be given to none, unless
they come to Him in His Spirit, into His Humanity, Sufferings, and
Merit, and therein be born true Children of the Merit.
129. We must be born of His Merit, and
put on the Merit of Christ in his Passion and Death;
not outwardly with verbal Flattery only, and bare
comforting of ourselves therewith, while we still remain Aliens and
strange Children, of a strange Essence or Nature. No, the strange
Essence inheriteth not the Childship, but the innate Essence
inheriteth it.
130. This innate Essence is not of
this World, but in Heaven, of which St Paul speaketh saying, Our
Conversation is in Heaven. The filial Essence walketh in Heaven, and
Heaven is in Man.
131. But if Heaven in Man be not open, and the
Man stand without Heaven flattering himself, and say, I am still
without, but Christ will take me in through his grace; is not his Merit
mine? Such a one is in Vanity and Sin with the outward Man,
and with the Soul in Hell,viz., in the Anger of God.
132. Therefore learn to understand rightly what
Christ hath taught us, and done for us. He is our Heaven; He
must get a Form in us, or else we shall not be in Heaven. Thus then the Soul's
inward Man, with the Holy Body of Christ, viz., in the New
Birth, is in Heaven, and the outward mortal Man is in the
World, of which Christ spake saying, `My Sheep are in my Hand, and none
shall pluck them away; the Father who gave them to me is greater than all.'
Beloved Brethren, we will teach you
faithfully, not with flattering Lips to please the Antichrist, but
from our Pearl, the Virtue, Power, and Spirit of Christ in us, from a
Christian Essence and Knowledge; not from the Husk and History,
but from a Newborn Spirit, from Christ's Knowledge, as a Branch growing
on the Vine Christ; from the Measure of that knowledge which is opened in us,
according to the Will and Counsel of God.
134. Men tie us in these Days to the
History, and to the material Churches of Stone; which
Churches are indeed good in their Kind, if Men did also bring the Temple
of Christ into them. They teach moreover that their Absolution is a
Forgiving of Sins, and that the Supper of the Lord taketh away Sin:
Also that the Spirit of God cometh into Men through their Ministry. All
which hath a proper Meaning, if it was rightly understood; and if Men did not
cleave merely to the Husk.
135. Many a man goeth to Church twenty or
thirty Years, heareth Sermons, receiveth the Sacraments, and
heareth Absolution read or declared, and yet is as much a Beast
of the Devil and Vanity at the last as at the first. A Beast
goeth into the Church, and to the Supper, and a Beast
cometh out from thence again.
136. How will he eat that hath no Mouth?
can any Man eat that Food which is so shut up that he cannot get it? How will
he drink that can come at no Water? Or how will he hear that hath no
Hearing?
137. What good End doth it answer, for me to go
to the material Churches of Stone, and there fill my Ears with
empty Breath? Or to go to the Supper, and feed nothing but the
earthly Mouth, which is mortal and corruptible? Cannot I feed and
satisfy that with a Piece of Bread at Home? What good doth it to the Soul,
which is an immortal Life, to have the Beastial Man observe the
Form, and venerate the Shell, of Christ's Institution, if it cannot
obtain the Kernel thereof? For St Paul saith of the Supper, - `You
receive it to Condemnation, because ye discern not the Lord's Body.'
138. The Covenant stands firm, and is
stirred in the Use of the Institution. Christ proffereth His
Spirit to us in His Word viz., in His preached Word and His
Body and Blood in the Sacrament, and His Absolution in a Brotherly
Reconciliation one to another.
139. But what good doth it in a Beast to
stand and listen, who hath no Hearing to receive the inward living
Word, nor any Ground wherein to lay the Word, that it may bring forth
Fruit? Of such Christ saith, `The Devil plucketh the Word out of their
Hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.' But how can he do so? Because
the Word findeth no Place in the Hearing Mind to take root in.
140. And thus it is with Absolution also;
what Benefit is it to me for one to say, I pronounce or declare to thee the
Forgiveness of thy Sins, when my Soul is wholly shut up in Sin? Whosoever
saith thus to a Sinner so shut up, erreth; and he that receiveth it without
the Voice of God within himself confirming the same, deceiveth
himself. None can forgive Sins but God only.
141. The Preacher hath not Forgiveness
of Sins in his own Power; but it is the Spirit of Christ in the
Voice of the Priest that hath the Power, provided the Priest himself is a
Christian.
142. What good did it to those that heard Christ
Himself teaching on Earth, when he said, "Come unto me all ye that are weary
and heavy laden, and I will give you Rest'? What good did this blessed
Promise to those that heard it, if they laboured not, nor were
heavy laden? What became of the Refreshment or Rest then?
Seeing they had dead Ears, and heard only the outward Christ, and not
the Word of the Divine Power, certainly they were not
refreshed. Just so much good the Beastial Man hath of his
Absolution and Sacraments.
143. The Covenant is open in the
Sacraments; and in the office or Ministry of teaching also the
Covenant is stirred; the Soul doth receive it, but in that Property
only of which the Mouth of the Soul is.
144. That is, the outward Beast receiveth
Bread and Wine, which it may have as well at Home. And the fiery Soul
receiveth the Testament according to its Property, viz., in the
Anger of God it receiveth the Substance of the eternal World, but
according to the Property of the dark World; it receiveth therefore, as
the Scripture saith, to its own Judgment or Condemnation. For as the
Mouth is, so is the Food which is taken in by the Mouth. And after this Manner
also it is, that the Wicked shall behold Christ at the last
Judgment as a severe Judge; but the Saints shall behold Him
as a loving Immanuel.
145. God's Anger standeth open in his
Testaments towards the Wicked; but towards the Saints the
Heavenly Loving Kindness, and in it the Power of Christ in the
holy Name Jesus, standeth open. What good then doth the Holy
Thing do to the Wicked, who cannot enjoy it? Or what is it there,
that can take away his Sins, when his Sin is only stirred and made
manifest thereby?
146. The Sacraments do not take away Sin;
neither are Sins forgiven thereby. But it is thus: When Christ ariseth,
then Adam dieth in the Essence of the Serpent; as when the Sun riseth, the
Night is swallowed up in the Day, and the Night is no more: Just so are Sins
forgiven.
147. The Spirit of Christ eateth of
his Holy Substance, the inward Man is the Receiver of the
Holy Substance; he receiveth what the Spirit of Christ bringeth into him
viz., the Temple of God, Christ's Flesh and Blood. But what doth this
concern a Beast? Or what doth it concern the Devils? Or the Soul
that is in the Anger of God? These eat of the Heavenly Blood, that is
in the Heaven wherein they dwell, which is the Abyss, or Bottomless
Pit.
148. And thus it is also in the Office or
Ministry of Preaching; The Ungodly Man heareth what the outward Soul
of the outward World preacheth; that He receiveth, viz., the
History; and if there be Straw or Stubble in that which is taught, he
sucketh the Vanity out of that. Yea, if the Preaching be mere Calumny,
Railing, and uncharitable Abuse, as is sometimes the Case, then his Soul
sucketh the venomous Poison, and the murdering Cruelty of the
Devil from it, wherewith it tickleth itself, and is pleased with learning
how to judge and condemn others.
149. Thus if the Preacher be one that
is dead, and hath no true Life in him, but soweth only Venom and
Reproach proceeding out of his evil Affections, then it is the Devil
that teacheth, and the Devil that heareth. Such teaching is received
into a wicked heart, and bringeth forth wicked Fruits. By which
means the World is become a mere den of murdering Devils. So that if
you look among the Herd of such Teachers and Hearers, there is little to
be found but Revilings, Slanderings, and Reproachings; together with
Contention about Words, and Wrangling about the Husk.
150. But the Holy Ghost teacheth in the
Holy Teachers, and the Spirit of Christ heareth through the Soul, which
is the Divine House of the Divine Sound or Voice in the Holy Hearer.
151. But the Holy Ghost teacheth in the
Holy Teacher, and the Spirit of Christ heareth through the Soul, which
is the Divine House of the Divine Sound or Voice in the Holy Hearer.
151. The Holy Man hath his Church in
himself, wherein he Heareth and Teacheth. But Babel hath a Heap
of Stones, into which she goeth with her seeming Holiness and real
Hypocrisy. There she loved to be seen in fine Clothes, and maketh a very
devout and godly Show; the Church of Stone is her God, in which she
putteth her Confidence.
152. But the Holy Man hath his
Church about him everywhere, even in himself; for he always standeth
and walketh, sitteth and lieth down in his Church. He liveth in the true
Christian Church; yea, in the Temple of Christ; the Holy Ghost
preacheth to him out of every Creature. Whatsoever he looketh upon,
he seeth a Preacher of God therein.
153. Here now the Scoffer will say that I
despise the Church Of Stone, where the Congregation meeteth; but I say
that I do not. For I do but discover the Hypocritical Whore of Babylon,
which committeth Whoredom with the Church of Stone, and termeth
herself a Christian, but is indeed a Strumpet.
154. A true Christian brings his Holy
Church with him into the Congregation. For the Heart of the true
Church, where a Man must practise the Service of God. If I should go
a thousand times to Church, and to the Sacrament every week, and hear
absolution declared to me every day, and have not Christ in
me, all would be false, an unprofitable Fiction and graven Image in
Babel, and no forgiving of Sins.
155. A Holy Man doth Holy Works
from the Holy Strength of his Mind. The Work is not the
Atonement of Reconciliation, but it is the Building which the
true Spirit buildeth in his Substance; it is his Habitation.
But the Fiction and Fancy is the Habitation of the false Christian, into
which his Soul entereth with Dissimulation. The outward hearing
reacheth but to the outward, and worketh in the outward only; but
the inward Hearing goeth into the inward, and worketh in the
inward.
156. Dissemble, roar, cry, sing, preach, and
teach as much as thou wilt; yet if thine inward Teacher and
Hearer be not open, all is nothing but a Babel a Fiction, and a
graven Image, whereby the Spirit of the outward World doth model
and make to itself a graven Image in Resemblance of the inward; and
maketh a Holy Show therewith, as if he performed some Divine or Holy
Service to God. Whereas many Times in such Service and Worship, the
Devil worketh mightily in the Imagination, and very much tickleth
the heart with those Things wherein the Flesh delighteth. Which indeed
not seldom happeneth to the Children of God, as to their outward
Man, if they do not take great Heed to themselves; so busily doth the Devil
beset and sift them.
A True Christian, who is born
anew of the Spirit of Christ, is in the Simplicity of Christ,
and hath no Strife or Contention with any Man about Religion. He
hath Strife enough in himself, with his own Beastial
evil Flesh and Blood. He continually thinketh himself a great
Sinner, and is afraid of God: But the Love of Christ by degrees pierceth
through, and expelleth that fear, as the Day swalloweth up the Night.
159. But the Sins of the Impenitent Man rest in
the Sleep of Death, bud forth in the Pit, and produce their Fruit in
hell.
160. The Christiandom that is in Babel,
striving about the Manner how Men ought to serve God, and glorify Him; also how
they are to know Him, and what He is in His Essence and
Will. And they preach positively, that whosoever is not one and the same
with them in every Particular of Knowledge and Opinion, is no Christian,
but a Heretic.
161. Now I would fain see how all their
Sects can be brought to agree in that One which might be called
a true Christian Church; when all of them are Scorners, every
Party of them reviling the rest, and proclaiming them to be false.
162. But a Christian is of no Sect: He
can dwell in the midst of Sects, and appear in their Services, without
being attached or bound to any. He hath but one Knowledge, and that is,
Christ in him. He seeketh but one Way, which is the Desire always to do
and teach that which is right; and he putteth all his knowing and
willing into the Life of Christ.
163. He sigheth and wisheth continually that the
Will of God might be done in him, and that His Kingdom might be
manifested in him. He daily and hourly killeth Sin in the Flesh;
for the Seed of the Woman,viz., the inward Man in Christ,
continually breaketh the Head of the Serpent, that is, the Power
of the Devil, which is in Vanity.
164. His Faith is a Desire after God
and goodness; which he wrappeth up in a sure Hope, trusting to the
Words of the Promise, and liveth and dieth therein; though as to the
true Man, he never dieth.
165. For Christ saith, `Whosoever believeth in
me, shall never die, but hath pierced through from Death to Life; and Rivers of
living Water shall flow from him,' viz., good Doctrine and Works.
166. Therefore I say, that whatsoever fighteth
and contendeth about the Letter, is all Babel. The Letters of the
Word proceed from, and stand all in, one Root, which is the Spirit of
God; as the various Flowers stand all in the Earth and grow by one another.
They fight not with each other about their Difference of Colour, Smell, and
Taste, but suffer the Earth, the Sun, the Rain, the Wind, the Heat and Cold, to
do with them as they please; and yet every one of them groweth in its own
peculiar Essence and Property.
167. Even so it is with the Children of
God; they have various Gifts and Degrees of Knowledge, yet all
from one Spirit. They all rejoice at the great Wonders of God,
and give Thanks to the most High in His Wisdom. Why then should they
contend about Him in whom they live and have their Being, and of
whose Substance they themselves are?
168. It is the greatest Folly that is in
Babel, for People to strive about Religion, as the Devil
hath made the World to do; so that they contend vehemently about
Opinions of their own Forging, viz., about the Letter; when the
Kingdom of God consisteth in no Opinion, but in Power and
Love.
169. As Christ said to his
Disciples, and left it with them at the last, saying, `Love one another, as I
have loved you; for thereby Men shall know, that ye are my Disciples.' If Men
would as fervently seek after Love and Righteousness as they do
after Opinions, there would be no Strife on Earth, and we should
be as Children of One Father, and should need no Law, or
Ordinance.
170. For God is not served by any Law, but only
by Obedience. Laws are for the Wicked, who will not embrace
Love and Righteousness; they are, and must be, compelled and forced by
Laws.
171. We all have but one only Order, Law, or
Ordinance, which is to stand still to the Lord of all Beings,
and resign our Wills up to Him, and suffer His Spirit to
play what Music He will. And thus we give to Him again as His own
Fruits, that which He worketh and manifesteth in us.
172. Now if we did not contend about our
different Fruits, Gifts, Kinds and Degrees of Knowledge, but did acknowledge
them in one another, like Children of the Spirit of God, what could
condemn us? For the Kingdom of God consisteth, not in our knowing
and supposing, but in Power.
173. If we did not know half so much, and were
more like Children, and had but a Brotherly Mind and good
Will, towards one another, and lived like Children of one Mother, and as
Branches of one Tree, taking our Sap all from one Root, we should
be far more Holy than we are.
174. Knowledge serves only to this End,
viz., to know that we have lost the Divine Power, in Adam,
and are become now inclined to Sin; that we have evil
Properties in us, and that doing Evil pleaseth not God; so that with
our knowledge we might learn to do Right. Now if we have the
Power of God in us, and desire with all our Hearts to act and to live
aright, then our Knowledge is but our Sport, or Matter of
Pleasure, wherein we rejoice.
175. For true Knowledge is the
Manifestation of the Spirit of God through the eternal
Wisdom. He knoweth what He will in His Children; He showeth his
Wisdom and Wonders by his Children, as the Earth putteth
forth its various Flowers.
176. Now if we dwell one with another, like
humble Children, in the Spirit of Christ, one rejoicing at the
Gift and Knowledge of another, who would judge or condemn us? Who judgeth or
condemneth the Birds in the Woods, that praise the Lord of all Beings
with various Voices, every one in its own Essence? Doth the Spirit
of God reprove them for not bringing their Voices into one Harmony? Doth
not the Melody of them all proceed from His power, and do they not sport before
Him.
177. Those Men therefore that strive
and wrangle about the Knowledge and Will of God, and despise one
another on that Account, are more foolish than the Birds in the Woods,
and the wild Beasts that have no true Understanding. They are more
unprofitable in the sight of the Holy God than the Flowers of the Field,
which stand still in quiet Submission of the Spirit of God, and suffer
Him to manifest the Divine Wisdom and Power through them. Yea, such Men
are worse than Thistles and Thorns that grow among fair
Flowers, for they at least stand still and are quiet, whereas those
Wranglers are like the ravenous Beasts and Birds of Prey, which
fright the other Birds from singing and praising God.
178. In short; they are the Issue, Branches
or Sprouts of the Devil in the Anger of God, who, notwithstanding
must by their very tormenting be made to serve the Lord; for by their plaguing
and persecuting, they press out the Sap through the Essence in the
Children of God so, that they move and stir themselves in the Spirit of
God, with praying and continual sighing, in which Exercise of their Powers
the Spirit of God moveth Himself in them.
179. For thereby the Desire is exerted, and so
the Children of God grow green, flourish, and bring forth Fruit; for the
Children of God are manifested in Tribulation; as the Scripture saith,
`When thou chastiseth them, they cry fervently to thee.'
All Christian Religion wholly
consisteth in this, to learn to know ourselves; Whence we are come, and
What we are; how we are gone forth from the Unity into Dissension,
Wickedness, Unrighteousness; how we have awakened and stirred up these
Evils in us; and how we may be delivered from them again, and recover
our original Blessedness.
181. First, how we were in the
Unity, when we were the Children of God in Adam before he fell.
Secondly, how we are now in Dissension and Disunion, in Strife and
Contrariety. Thirdly, whither we go when we pass out of this
corruptible condition; whither with the immortal, and whither with the
mortal Part.
182. And lastly, how we may come forth from
Disunion and Vanity, and enter again into that one Tree, Christ in
us, out of which we all sprung in Adam. In these Four Points all the
necessary Knowledge of a Christian consisteth.
183. The Testaments of Christ are nothing
else but a loving Bond or Brotherly Covenant, wherewith God in Christ
bindeth himself to us and us to him. All teaching, willing, living, and
doing, must imply, aim at, and refer to that. All teaching and doing
otherwise, whatsoever it be, is Babel and a Fiction; a mere graven Image
of Pride in unprofitable Judgings, a disturbing of the World, and an
Hypocrisy of the Devil, wherewith he blindeth Simplicity.
185. Every Preacher void of the Spirit
of God, who without Divine Knowledge, setteth himself up for a
Teacher of Divine Things, pretending to serve God thereby, is false, and
doth but serve the Belly, his Idol, and his own proud Insolent
Mind, in desiring to be honoured on that Account, and esteemed Holy, or
a Divine in Holy Orders. He beareth an Office, to which he is set apart
and chosen by the Children of Men, who do but flatter him, and for
Favour have ordained him thereunto.
186. Christ said, `Whosoever entereth not by the
Door,' that is, through his Spirit, `into the Sheepfold, but climbeth up some
other way, the same is a Thief and a Murderer, and Sheep follow him not, for
they know not his Voice.'
187. He hath not the Voice of the Spirit of
God, but the Voice of his own Art and Learning only; the Man
teacheth, and not the Spirit of God. But Christ saith, `Every Plant
which my Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be plucked up by the
Roots.'
188. How then will he that is Ungodly
plant Heavenly Plants, when he hath no Seed alive in its Power in
himself? Christ saith expressly, `The Sheep hear not his Voice, they follow
him not.'
189. The written Word is but an
Instrument whereby the Spirit leadeth us to itself within
us. That Word which will teach, must be living in the literal Word.
The Spirit of God must be in the literal Sound, or else none is a
Teacher of God, but a mere Teacher of the Letter, a Knower of the History,
and not of the Spirit of God in Christ.
190. All that Men will serve God with, must be
done in Faith, viz., in the Spirit. It is the Spirit that
maketh the Work perfect, and acceptable in the Sight of God. All that a Man
undertaketh and doeth in Faith, he doeth in the Spirit of God, which
Spirit of God doth cooperate in the Work, and then it is acceptable to
God. For He hath done it Himself, and His Power and Virtue is in
it: It is Holy.
191. But whatsoever is done in Self,
without Faith, is but a Figure and Shell, or Husk of a true
Christian Work.
192. If thou servest thy brother, and
doest it but in Hypocrisy, and givest him unwillingly, then thou
servest not God. For thy Faith proceedeth not from Love, nor entereth
into Hope, in thy Gift. Indeed thou servest thy brother, and he for his
Part thanketh God and blesseth thee, but thou blessest not him. For thou givest
him thy Gift with a grudging Spirit, which entereth not into the
Spirit of God, into the Hope of Faith, therefore thy Gift is but
half given, and thou hast but half thy Reward for it.
193. The same is true of receiving a
Gift. If any giveth in Faith, in Divine Hope, he blesseth his Gift by his
Faith: But whoso receiveth it unthankfully, and murmureth in his Spirit,
he curseth it in the Use or Enjoyment of it. Thus it is, that everyone shall
have his own; `Whatsoever he soweth, that shall he also reap.'
194. So likewise it is in the Office of
teaching; `whatsoever a Man soweth, that also he reapeth.' For if any
Man sow good Seed from the Spirit of Christ, it sticketh in the
good Heart, and bringeth forth Good Fruit; but in the wicked, who are
not capable of receiving the good Seed, the Anger of God is stirred.
195. If any sow Contentions, Reproaches,
and Misconstructions, all ungodly People receive that unto them; which
sticketh in Them also, and bringeth forth Fruit accordingly. So that they
learn thereby to despise, revile, slander, and misrepresent one another. Out
of which Root the great Babel is sprung and grown; wherein Men, from
mere Pride and Strife, contend about the History, and the
Justification of a poor Sinner in the Sight of God; thereby
causing the simple to err and blaspheme, insomuch that one Brother revileth and
curseth the other, and excommunicateth, or casteth him to the Devil, for
the Sake of the History and Letter.
196. Such Railers and Revilers
fear not God, but raise the great Building of Dissension. And seeing
corrupt Lust lieth in all Men, in the earthly Flesh still, therefore
they raise and awaken Abominations even in the simple Children of
God, and make the People of God, as well as the Children of Iniquity, to
blaspheme. And thus they become Master-Builders of the great Babel of
the World, and are as useful in the Church, as a fifth Wheel in a Wagon;
yea, what is worse than that, they erect the Hellish Building too.
197. Therefore it is highly necessary for the
Children of God to pray earnestly, that they may learn to know this
false Building, and go forth from it with their Minds, and not help to
build it up, and persecute their Fellow-Children of God. For by
that means they keep themselves back from the Heavenly Kingdom, and
turn aside from the right Way.
198. According to the saying of Christ to
the Pharisees, `Woe unto you Pharisees; for you compass Sea and Land to
make one Proselyte, and when he is one, you make him two-fold more the Child of
Hell than yourselves.' Which is truly too much the Case with the modern
Factions and Sects among these Criers and Teachers of Strife.
199. I desire therefore, out of my Gifts,
which are revealed to me from God, that all the Children of God,
who desire to be the true Members of Christ, be faithfully warned to
depart from such abominable Contentions and bloody Fire-brands,
and to go forth from all Strife with their Brethren, and strive
only after Love and Righteousness towards all Men.
200. For he that is a good Tree must
bring forth good Fruits, and must sometimes suffer Swine to
devour his Fruits, and yet must continue a good Tree still, and
be always willing to work with God, and not suffer any Evil to overcome
him. And then he standeth and groweth in the Field of God, and bringeth
forth Fruit to be set upon God's Table, which he shall enjoy
forever. Amen, `All that hath Breath praise the Name of the Lord.
Hallelujah.'
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